Understanding shift in personal hygiene habits of people during COVID and

influence of social media on consumption patterns

Objectives:
1) Understanding shift in personal hygiene habits of consumers post covid-19 outbreak
2) Understanding shift in media consumption habits of consumers post covid-19
outbreak
3) Understanding impact of media consumption and advertisements on brand
preference of consumers for personal hygiene products
4) Giving recommendations to personal hygiene brands regarding media strategy based
on studied consumer behaviour.

Introduction:
Many consumers are observing more frequent personal hygiene habits like washing hands &
face, using sanitizers/ disinfectant for laundry etc.

Consumers are also cleaning their houses and clothes more frequently than before

37%
Consumers are doing more online shopping for hygiene than before the outbreak
Categories like hand care, face masks, disinfectants show significant increase in
consumption / usage

Consumers are becoming extremely sensitive towards their

smoking habits and usage of health products shows increase

Personal Hygiene Habits Much Less Much more

than before than before
I'm washing my hands 5% 69%
I'm washing my face 5% 59%
I use sanitizer/ disinfectant for laundry 5% 60%
I use sanitizer for different body parts washing 5% 51%
When going outside home I'm wearing masks 5% 65%
When going outside home I'm wearing rubber gloves 7% 44%
I'm touching my face 46% 11%
When in public transport, I try to stay away from other 18% 51%
people
In public transport, I try to not touch bars, chairs, etc. 26% 43%
I avoid public transport and use personal car/walk instead 19% 51%
I stay at home as much as possible 7% 67%
Shaking hands with others 57% 18%

According to Kantar Studies, in the coming 6 months, consumers plan to increase spending on
health, personal wash, home hygiene and antiseptic products.

Covid-19 is pursuing consumers to try new products and consumer is more willing to try new
brands. This provides a huge opportunity to capture a growing market if they can spread enough
awareness about covid-19 and how their brand can keep consumers safe.

76%
Consumers are spending more time on social media
Majority of the people are staying up-to-date on the COVID-19
situation in the country, and their primary source of information
include TV news channels, digital news platforms and social media

Media consumption has increased in general with a surge in online

viewing. Cutting through clutter and leveraging digital will be key. YouTube, WhatsApp,
Facebook and Instagram see biggest increase in usage during lockdown.

This makes it extremely important for Personal hygiene brands to have a robust media strategy.
We conducted primary research in form of interviews and online google forms to know more
about consumer behaviour regarding personal hygiene products and media consumption post
covid-19 to understand how firms can leverage these to create a successful media state.

Primary Research
Primary research was conducted using a Google survey form to analyze the overall
trends of social media consumption and shift in the influence of social media on
personal care product consumptions and change in purchases. The observations of
the same are follows

During covid-19 consumers showed a shift in brand loyalty when it comes to personal
hygiene products, 36% of our respondents switched their soap brands. Historical use
and referrals from friends/family still dominating the brand preference of the
consumers but Social media campaigns, online reviews and television advertisements
also had respectable effect on consumer’s brand preference.
Most participants showed increased consumption of social media, OTT platform and
YouTube post covid-19. Instagram came out to be the most popular social media
application in our survey followed by Facebook.
Followed by this we interviewed 20 users to understand in detail the shift in
purchasing behavior influenced by social media, we also focused on the Ad recall for
various campaigns and reasons for shifting from their existing brand or adopting a
new product from a different brand. This helped us understand the consumer
behavior and preferences.

Questionnaire was divided into 4 major components to gauge consumer behavior

1. Demographic Questions – To understand the basic details of the interviewee

2. Questions on Media Consumption – Understanding shift in TV, OTT and Social
Media Consumption post COVID
3. Content Consumption on Social Media and Influence of Ad campaigns
4. Shift in perception towards personal care brands and purchasing habits

1. The following table represents a summary of the demographics and preference of

the people surveyed -

20 INDEPTH INTERVIEWS - DEMOGRAPHICS

Age of respondents 24 - 35 Years
Location Hyderabad and Chennai
Occupations Students | Homemakers | Working Professionals
Gender Men and Women
Family Size Nuclear Family (4-6)
Social Media Presence All respondents had Social Media Presence
Major Personal Care Brands Dettol, Lifebouy, Santoor, Hamam, Cinthol,Lux
2. Media Consumption – The questions were structured to enquire about overall
media consumption (TV and OTT) and individual consumption (Social Media Apps
&YouTube) The Key observations are -

1. Observations on TV and OTT Consumption – (Self and Family)

 TV consumption significantly increased during Lockdown ( 6 to 8 hours) – 1.5 X Increase
 TV consumption post Unlock has now reduced but more than pre lockdown state
 News Channels, Movies, Serials were consumed in local languages predominately
 Few respondents consumed Bollywood channels for Music and entertainment
 Usage and Subscription of OTT platforms has risen – 75% of respondents viewed
at least 1 OTT platform. Hotstar and Prime Video were the most widely viewed.
 Family viewing had increased during the lockdown period and is still high.

3. Observations on Digital Consumption - Social Media Apps

• All the users were active on primarily – WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube

• Instagram was actively used by only 30% of the interviewed users

• Highest time was spent on – YouTube | frequently watched content -

- Cooking recipes, Home remedies, DIY videos, Music & Entertainment

• Homemakers consumed more YouTube and Facebook (upto 3 hours a day)

• Rise of new app usage like MX Player, Helo, Aha etc were used upto 3 Hours

Influencing Consumer decision making process - A consumer decision making

process includes of five stages to acquire a product or service. From the very
beginning stage consumer recognize the need, gather the information and sources,
evaluate alternatives and make the decision. (Kotler and Armstrong 2005, 314).
Kotler also mention (2010) consumer can skip few steps in regular buying process
and routine purchase. The following diagram shows the consumer decision making
journey. Ad Campaigns and Social Media can influence the decision at various stages
in this journey

Various Ad Campaigns during the pandemic focused on the following aspects

1. Need for recognition – New product lines in the personal care category to
encourage product adoption. Sanitizers, Alcohol Wipes, Hand washes, Sanitizer
sprays etc. were aimed at ensuring the consumers recognize their new needs in the
given pandemic and for them to be used regularly going forward post pandemic as
well

2. Information Research – The Ads campaigns for masses on traditional marketing

channels like TV aimed at promoting the functional characteristics of the product.
Consumers are looking to brands for being credible sources of more information.
The Ads were focused on working action of our product. According to the Kantar
Barometer report, 33% of consumers want brands to be a trusted source of
information however, the larger consumer speak to note is around what they expect
from advertising ~75%+ consumers want brand advertising to show how brands can
be helpful in the new everyday life, inform about efforts being made to face the
situation and offer a positive perspective.

3. Evaluation of Alternatives - With all brands in the health space increasing their
media activity every brand is providing stimulus to attract the consumers to select
their brand over other alternatives.

4. Purchase Decision – Decision making process extends even after consumer has
made purchase as the consumer feelings and evaluation after the sale are quite
important for the marketers because they can convince consumers to make
purchases again and influence them to share with other people and vice versa
(Burnett 2008).
Currently the marketing is Omni-channel, this is to ensure the purchase decision is
impacted across various marketing channels and it is converted to brand advocacy.

5. Post Purchase Behavior - After the purchase decision, the buyer of the product
will be satisfied or dissatisfied and the answer to it lies in the link between consumer
expectation and perceived performance. Consumer would be dissatisfied if the
product short of expected value and on getting more than expected value the
consumer would be happy and satisfied. Expected value as the success of winning
customer suggest that seller should always promise to that extent what their brand
can deliver to customer. (Kotler and Armstrong 2011, 154.)

Consumer post purchase feedback plays a significant role and is expressed as reviews
on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube generated content
and impacts the perception of the product among other non-users. Based on the
kind of feedback the consumers can be divided into Promoters, Passives or
Detractors.

4. Factors influencing Product Awareness & Purchase - Observations

 TV Ads and YouTube Ads are prime influencers to the consumers as stimulus.
 Consumers loyal to a brand seek assurance from relatives and friends to try a
different brand based on perceived utility & benefits – Important factor.
 Product variants of same brand and products of new brands are tired and tested
before adopting for regular use among consumers
 Engaging on posts, recall Social work posts done by brands are critical in decision
making process

Q. Are consumers seeking germ protection as an added benefit in addition to

freshness or existing functionality in the beauty soaps category?

The conquests with a mix of soap brand users show that people are aware of the fact
that all soaps are good enough to protect against the virus. Hence consumers are not
rushing to change the brand/variant. For bathing, they seem to be still wanting the
core benefit of their usual soap

Key Observations -

 Brand loyalty had slightly gone down and consumers slightly shifted from using
their regular beauty soap like (Hamam, Santoor, Cinthol) to soaps which provide
germ resistance as their core functionality
 The decision was influenced by the Ad Campaigns on TV, YouTube and Handwash
challenges by Dettol and Lifebouy on various Social media platforms.
 The Consumers who stuck to their respective brands was due to awareness
campaigns by the beauty brands like Santoor, Cinthol and Hamam to showcase
that they are effective to provide germ protection to retain consumers.
 45% of the consumers who chose to stick with their respective beauty brands
adopted products like sanitizer and hand wash of germ protection brands.
 Ad Campaigns Like Stay Safe Inside by Hamam, Germ Shield by Santoor and
99.9% Germ protection were shown to have great Ad recall especially in local
languages.
Brand Testimonials

Brand Switch from Santoor (Beauty Soap) to Lifebouy (Germ Protection) Switched
due to doctor’s recommendation for better protection. Value for money proposition
(10/- germ protection) was attractive and evident from the Ads. Santoor was not
provide expected protection to the skin. – Mr Naveen, Age 29
| Manager

Highly loyal towards Brand Santoor as it is passed on from generations among

women Have been using since a child and using the same for my baby Santoor hand
wash also purchased during pandemic. The Ad campaign showing the mother-
daughter relationship and recent one providing emphasis on “Germ Shield”
reaffirmed our faith in the brand. - Mrs
Anusha, 29, Homemaker

Brand Switch from Lifebuoy to Dettol Switched due to suggestion from friends to
prevent diseases by using Dettol Liquid for shower and floor cleaning was perceived
to be effective leading to purchase of Dettol Soap. Dettol’s handwash campaigned
was remembered by the user and also various products of the same brand like liquid
handwash, antiseptic liquid and Soaps motivated this. - Mr Pandu, 34, Retail
Executive
 Media Strategy Recommendations: How personal care brands can leverage this
shift in media consumption to influence consumer behavior

The increasing trends in social media consumption along with the consumer insights
of what they are seeking from personal care brands in order to be loyal or shift their
consumption pattern we propose the following opportunities in the Media Strategy

1. Awareness about Functionality – The consumers are now being highly brand and
product conscious, they are looking for required functionality and value for money.
Brands need to educate consumers about the germ benefits protection of their
products and how consumers can keep themselves safe.

2. Credibility of
Information – Personal care brands are fighting for consumer attention in a highly
competitive social media landscape. The consumers are now looking for credibility
of the claims made by the brand with respect to personal hygiene and protection.
Strategic information is needed to be passed on to consumers about institutions
validating your claims to build trust with consumers and attract consumers who are
willing to shift their consumption to a new brand.
3. Consumer Engagement – As the time spent on social media apps like Instagram,
Tik Tok, Facebook and YouTube has gone up significantly, the brands must leverage
this aspect to engage audience. Launching mass Brand Campaigns involving
consumers and Brand advocacy by celebrities have resulted in high recall. Brands
can launch social media campaigns and can involve consumers to participate in
spreading awareness about corona virus pandemic.

4. Social Work by Brands – Another high recall value of Ads was seen in the relief
and social work done by brands during the lockdown. Showcasing gratitude towards
COVID-Warriors (Healthcare workers, Support staff, Nurses) and charity were
recognized by people in both traditional media and social media channels. Brands
engaging in helping people during the pandemic have overall better brand loyalty.
Brands can overtake activities like spreading awareness among underprivileged and
rural areas about pandemic and how they can keep themselves safe.
5. Social Media Influencers – Role of micro influencers ensures the brand
communication is reached across to the decision makers in the family and leads to
increased influence on purchasing behavior. Hence brands should rope in social
media influencers who can engage consumers on Facebook and Instagram with
memes and videos to get their point across

Dettol and Lifebouy (Germ Protection Soaps) have successfully leveraged this
behavior to improve their sales during the pandemic, Consumers have shifted from
regular beauty soaps to Germ Protection soaps or have started using additional
personal care products offered by the above brands.

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